When are vaccines for children coming?

Children can also get Covid-19 and suffer from long-term effects. They also carry the virus on. BioNTech, Moderna and other manufacturers are therefore working flat out on vaccines for the youngest.

From Notker Blechner, tagesschau.de So far it has seemed that children are largely spared from Corona. Many who were infected with Covid-19 had asymptomatic or mild disease. Serious illnesses were rare. “I haven’t had a bad case so far,” says pediatrician Axel Gerschlauer from Bonn, regional spokesman for the professional association of paediatricians. But there have also been deaths in children in connection with a corona infection. Long-term effects are even more common. More than 250 cases of the PIMS syndrome (“Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome”) have already been counted. This is an immune reaction that occurs a few weeks after infection, especially in children, and can be life-threatening.

Some children suffer from long-term effects

Surveys from abroad are also alarming, according to which numerous children and adolescents suffer from “long covid”, i.e. post-viral symptoms weeks or months after the infection. According to recently published data from Great Britain, 15 percent of adolescents between the ages of eleven and 16 complained of persistent headaches, sudden learning disorders or a drop in performance in sports five weeks after the corona illness. In a study by a clinic in Rome, it was even found that almost half (43 percent) of the children infected with Corona had at least one symptom that was affecting them four months later. “Children are not the drivers of the pandemic,” said Jörg Dötsch, President of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Medicine. However, since February the incidence among the youngest has also increased significantly in Germany. On the one hand, this may be due to the numerous tests that were carried out in schools. On the other hand, the proportion of people over the age of 70 in cases of illness has fallen significantly, as they have largely been vaccinated. Pediatricians consider it important to vaccinate children and adolescents as quickly as possible – especially in view of the mutated South African, British and Brazilian corona viruses. This is the only way to achieve herd immunity. Experts now believe that 80 to 90 percent of the population should be vaccinated to ensure collective protection. Because the more contagious the virus, the higher the vaccination rate must be. “If vaccination is not carried out across all population groups, extensive immunity cannot arise in the general population,” says Thomas Fischbach, President of the Association of Pediatricians. Heinz Hilgers, President of the Child Protection Association, also says: “We will not get out of this pandemic without vaccinations for children.”

Schoolchildren in Israel already vaccinated

Vaccine manufacturers understand the importance of children and teenagers. “Younger children, who make up a large part of the world’s population, play a crucial role in our fight against Covid-19,” said BioNTech and Pfizer recently. The German-American company duo wants to accelerate the development of vaccines for children and adolescents. BioNTech boss Ugur Sahin spoke of promising studies at the analysts’ balance sheet conference. A phase III study in 12 to 15 year olds was particularly successful. The vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective in this age group. None of the vaccinated 2260 participants in the study was sick with Covid-19, it said. “The first results of the study in adolescents indicate that children are particularly protected by the vaccination,” said CEO Sahin. BioNTech-Pfizer plans to apply for emergency approval in the USA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the coming weeks. Pfizer boss Albert Bourla is confident that the first young Americans will be vaccinated in the US before the start of the next school year. So far, the drug has been approved for people aged 16 and over in countries such as the USA and Israel. In Israel, the first pupils under the age of 18 were vaccinated.

The very little ones still have to wait

Now there should also be clinical tests for vaccines in children between six months and eleven years. If the study is positive, the vaccine could be used in the youngest from the beginning of 2022. The US company Moderna and the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca were faster. They had started testing their corona vaccines on younger children even before BioNTech-Pfizer. The results of the Moderna study for the vaccine in 12 to 17 year olds are expected in the middle of the year. The US FDA has approved Moderna tests on children aged six months to twelve years. AstraZeneca began a study of its vaccine in 6 to 17 year olds in the UK in February. Johnson & Johnson is also planning its own pediatric studies. The European Medicines Agency has obliged the four major suppliers to also test their vaccines for children.

BioNTech and Pfizer clearly ahead

But so far BioNTech-Pfizer has been ahead in the race for children’s vaccines. Analysts like Daniel Wendorff from Commerzbank are convinced of this. The Mainz vaccine is so far the only one that has been proven to be effective in 12 to 15 year olds. BioNTech and Pfizer would have such great market power anyway that the two companies could quickly increase production. When it comes to absolute vaccination doses and the availability of data, BioNTech-Pfizer is a leader, says Wendorff. The EU is increasingly relying on BioNTech-Pfizer. Brussels is about to finalize a huge order for 1.8 billion cans, the majority of which are for children and young people. The rest are booster vaccinations that are likely to be required in the years to come.

First approval in late summer?

Thomas Mertens, the chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko), has shown confidence that in Germany Corona vaccine available for children at the end of the year will be. Association president Dötsch even hopes that “we will get a vaccine for 12 to 15 year olds in late summer or autumn at the latest, for smaller children it will probably take longer”. However, other experts warn against being too optimistic. “Children are not little adults,” says pediatrician Gerschlauer. You can’t give them half the dose just because they’re half the size of adults. The immune system of the little ones is completely different. In addition, there is the problem that it is more difficult to find children as test subjects for studies. Smarter would like to see a vaccine approved for the youngest of our society as soon as possible. Because children in particular are the biggest losers in the corona pandemic. In his practice he currently counts more young patients with mental disorders than ever before. “Many have eating and sleeping disorders or even depression.” This is confirmed by Jörg Dötsch, President of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Medicine: “70 to 90 percent of children are under severe psychological stress from the pandemic,” he estimates. “We’re really worried about the little ones.”